Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Best Team Ever

Be warned, I did very little research for this post. In fact, I did none. This is yet another list made up of my favorites and by no means the best. Yes, of course, how good a player is has a lot to do with how much I like them (but not the only factor). For example, no Brave will be on my team, not Maddux, Chipper, Smoltz, or McGriff. Because I hate the Braves, and you should too.

Here we go...

1st Base: Albert Pujols. He hit three homeruns against the Reds on Easter a few years back and I still like the guy. I blamed our pitchers, but really is it their fault he's one of the best hitters the game's ever seen?

2nd Base: Craig Biggio. I'm loving Brandon Phillips right now though.

Shortstop: Cal Ripken Jr. Man I wanted to put Barry Larkin here, and maybe I should have. If you check back on this post I might have changed it. Anyway, Ripken's not at third because I had to include...

3rd Base: Chris Sabo. I played third (I played everywhere, but third sometimes), I had glasses, I was number 17, he was my favorite. I even had a poster.

Left Field: Bubba Bullock. Didn't see that coming did ya? He covers a ton of ground and guns people down at least twice a game. Easily the best left fielder in Jessamine County's Men's E league softball last year.

Center Field: Ken Griffey Jr. The classic "if only" story of baseball. If only he was more than a shadow of himself after coming to Cincy... I'd be happier.

Right Field: Ichiro Suzuki. This kid's just a blast to watch, hitting and fielding. I was watching The Best Damn 50 Top Baseball Plays the other day and I think Ichiro was in about half of them.

Catcher: Travis Whalen (circa 1995). Maybe the first time Whalen spoke to me was while catching on the opposing team in Little League (and it was probably something negative about my mother). Just the classic insulting, distracting, hilarious Little League catcher.

Starting Pitcher: Nolan Ryan. My brother's favorite player of all time and he taught me to love him. That and Ryan's classic beat-down of our childhood. Oh, and good luck catching this guy Whalen (age 11).

Closer: Rob Dibble. A freakin nut job, but he was as good as he was crazy.

Utility Man: Ryan Freel. Maybe my favorite current player. Obviously there's the incredible catches he makes, sacrificing his body in later September when the Red's are failing to even play spoiler. But it's awesome how the kid's always dirty (I call him 'kid' because in my mind he's about 12 years old). One time after a really awkward slide/collision at home plate Freel was six steps towards the dugout and turns around to come back to the plate to pat the catcher on the butt. Hilarious.

2 comments:

Travis Whalen
said...

Hello and thank you for coming out today, I stand here before you a man aware of the honor bestowed upon him. I do not make any claims that I am the best man for the job... but that I will work harder each day than I did the day before. I will put my reputation, body and career on the line everyday for this team. I cannot promise victory... but I can promise dedication. I cannot promise a legacy... but I can promise commitment. I am honored to be this towns catcher and I will die before I let you all down.

-excerpt from my acceptance speech at a press conference that took place earlier this week. It was a lovely ceremony with several celbrity guests and tiny ham sandwhiches being passed around on silver trays.